Chill-style modules: Potential kickstarter?

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sharps54 said:
I ran a fun game based on Captain Kronos using Barbarians of Lemuria for the core with a healthy amount of Honor + Intrigue (based on BoL anyhow) mixed in.
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I did a quasi-Kronos game using LotFP a few years ago, but it focused on witches, not vampires. The Specialist class in LotFP seemed well-suited for a character like Grost.
 
I worked up some rules for crafting at a faster than normal rate which allowed the Grost like assistant in the PC’s group to craft an appropriate sword once the determined this type of vampire’s weakness. Like I say I allowed the fact they hadn’t seen the movie to lift liberally from the movie itself.
 
Simlasa said:
Bureau 13 interested me, but I'd never seen a copy out in the wild, or played it, until Ronnie ran a game for us... it was lots of fun, though I don't remember much about the system (as it should be, really).

In general, I think my taste runs more to 'freelance' individuals dealing with horrors... rather than private/government agencies (secret or not). More like the hunters in the NWOD hunters game, or the guys in Supernatural... a loose collective with no shared hierarchy, just aggrieved citizens fighting monsters.
Chill always sounded like it might be good for something like Captain Kronos.
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The Unexplained is a FUDGE based game of "ghost/cryptid/paranormal hunters", and assumes the teams will be civilian in nature. I've re-tooled it to run an X-Files rip-off, and it works for that, too.
 
Gringnr said:
There's also G.O.R.E. from Goblinoid games, which is a kind of BRP/Cthulhu with all of the IP peeled away, and is also free to use for 3rd party materials.


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I wouldn‘t use this a basis for any product because it is based on the Mongoose RuneQuest SRD not Legend OGL. Goblinoid haven’t updated this, presumably because it didn’t get much traction.

For those of you unaware, Mongoose obtained the license to publish RuneQuest in 2008 but they did not have the rights to sub license so this is the main problem with OGLing their RQ system. In addition, the three SRDs had references to Glorantha and its intellectual property which Mongoose did not own and did not have the rights to give away.

When Mongoose lost the RuneQuest license, they republished their RuneQuest II rules as Legend scoured of all Gloranthan references and OGLed it at the same time. This was OK because they owned the system and could do what they wanted with it. So, if a product uses Legend it is OK. Many existing projects, such as OpenQuest were updated to only include Legend in their OGL statement, GORE was not.
 
Update: I'm about a week away from unveiling my logo and a promo video for the project. I'm just trying to get some feedback on the different support levels I should offer for the fundraising.

Assume that I will be going through DriveThruRPG for print on demand services. I only plan on physically mailing about 10-20 of the modules that will be signed by the cover artist. Again, he is someone relatively well-known for his Hollywood work and thus signed copies will have some value as a collector's item.

What kind of levels of support should I shoot for, and what should they entail? Again, assume that I know nothing about Kickstarter.
 
Unless the price is very close expect to sell more PDFs than print on demand copies. Are you planning on any stretch goals? You don’t need them but if you are considering them decide what they will be in advance as they can spiral out of control and cause unexpected delays otherwise.

Is all the writing done? That is a big selling point, the Kickstarter just paying for art and editing. You may want to consider offering some or all of the draft to backers during the campaign. That’s a tricky one as you can scary people away if it isn’t as good as you think but if it is good it helps inspire confidence in the project and lets backers know that they will get a product even if the artist fails to deliver.

Length is a tricky thing, too long a campaign can look desperate, especially if you don’t have stretch goals and the funding goal isn’t that high. Three weeks is pretty good as it lets almost everyone on a two week pay cycle to have a pay day before the campaign ends.

Be ready to give regular updates, maybe two or three a week, and be active in the comments. Don’t say anything political or controversial in the updates or comments! That bit Greg Gillespie in the butt in his Dwarrowdeep campaign.

Have someone else check the text you post prior to putting it up, grammar and spelling errors will scare people away as will an unprofessional video or splash picture/ art.

Set a realistic delivery date, probably a month longer than you think it will really take so you have a buffer and a chance to say you delivered early.

Double check you costs and how much Kickstarter, Backerkit if you have to use it (you shouldn’t for a small project), DrivethruRPG, and any advertising you do are going to take so not only will you have enough to pay for the art / editing but you will come out with something for yourself.

If you mention Chill or Cryptworld and have permission to do so make sure you mention that as it will calm fears that the project may be shutdown for IP reasons.

I’m sure others will fill in things I have forgotten.
 
The issue of permissions for mentioning either previous game remains a foggy one, which is why I've decided to just be very generic in those references in both the module and in promotional material ("compatible with classical horror RPGs" and such). I did the best job that I could with just describing the minimum in terms of mechanics and changing the names and structure of things here and there. Still not sure if this will all fly, but I gave it my best shot.

Yes, all the writing is done. I'm a little hesitant to share the text of the adventure, though, since this is my first time writing this sort of thing for publication. Again, due in part to the generalizing that I had to do, I leave some aspects of the adventure (such as damage determinations) up to GM discretion. I'm sure that will not be up the proverbial alley for a lot of folks. I don't think it's a poorly written or structured adventure, but it's admittedly not perfect. A good part of what I'm trying to sell are the quality of the designs and the art, and thus the throwback appeal of the modules. But I really have nothing specific to show or reveal to potential supporters other than samples of unrelated art by the cover and interior artists. So, I'm admittedly worried.

I'm not planning on stretch goals, so whatever is potentially raised over the goal will simply go toward creating more modules or covering any additional costs.

So, are levels like 25, 50, 75, 125, 250 unreasonable? Are lower levels too low if my goal is over $3000? What do I give away? Links to the PDF, print-on-demand opportunities, signed copies of the module...what else?
 
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25 for the PDF, 50 for POD and 75 for the artist signed copies? Roughly how many pages? I think it might be a hard sell from a new creator with no art to show.
 
So what kinds of levels would make more sense? Again, just trying to get an idea.
 
Well, I think I've got it now, with lower levels for most supporters and higher levels for those who want a signed copy. I'll also have one "super" level for a donor who wants the original artwork once I'm done with it.

This will be interesting! I'm not sure how many have tried to sell an RPG book with no official art to show. But here I go. Kickstarter will hopefully go live by this weekend.
 
Added a $5 tier for those who just want to show their support and receive exclusive updates on the campaign.

Coming later this week for backers only: A preview of the cover design (without art) and a chance to choose the color scheme for the module line!

 
Yeti Spaghetti said:
My attempts so far to reach Goblinoid have failed, unfortunately. I will make another attempt before I move forward with formally recognizing Cryptworld in the text of the modules. If I don't hear back at that point, I'll have to decide whether that counts as due diligence or if they should go technically unmentioned.
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Looks like Goblinoid Games is winding down their online presence - https://www.tenkarstavern.com/2022/07/news-goblinoid-games-starts-to-shut.html They say that their titles will still remain up for sale for now, but they closed their website, forum, the Facebook group is private, there are no posts on Twitter... Curiously awaiting more news, but that's probably why you didn't get a response.
 
Yep, I realize that now. Funny how all these things have been playing out. I think it was ultimately better for the project that I never heard back, because it forced me to come up with something different, yet still have it be compatible with Cryptworld. And now if Cryptworld is no longer going to be supported, there's the added benefit of not being so directly tied to a defunct property.

Of course we're all just guessing what it means at this point. I hope it's just a temporary re-tooling. But if he sells Pacesetter and Cryptworld, hopefully it means there will be more support forthcoming for those properties. Either way I don't think it impacts what I'm doing, because Chill 2e and Cryptworld will still presumably be available to purchase as core systems, and my modules are at this point rules-light, self-operating adventures that don't require a core system anyway.
 
I hope whomever does get the properties leaves the remaining Pacesetter properties available in the current, unmolested form. I’m fine with new material as long as the older material isn’t messed with or pulled from circulation. If he just pulled the plug and didn’t need the money I’d love for him to make it all open license but the fact we live in the real world makes me hope he gets a fair price because both the Pacesetter IP and to a lesser degree Labyrinth Lord / Mutant Future are properties that can be valuable handled correctly.

Edit to add which reminds me I need to get a PoD of Mutant Future while it’s still available…
 
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